The Cosmetics Directive's Ban on Animals in Testing
In Europe, the ban covers animal tests to evaluate the human safety of cosmetic products and their ingredients.A ban was introduced on the testing of finished products on animals, although industry began phasing out the use of animals in the testing of finished cosmetics products back in the 1980s.
The testing ban on cosmetic ingredients is being applied step-by-step as soon as alternative testing methods are validated and adopted in EU legislation with due regard to the OECD validation process. The cut-off point is March 2009 when testing using animals must stop in Europe whether or not an alternative method is available.
A second measure introduced by the 7th amendment imposes a ban on marketing cosmetics in Europe if the finished product or its ingredients have been tested using animals.
This marketing ban is also being introduced step-by-step. It applies as soon as alternative methods are validated and adopted. This cut-off point for phasing in the marketing ban is also March 2009 but there are exceptions for some tests: repeated-dose toxicity, reproductive toxicity and toxicokinetics.
The final cut-off is March 2013, when no cosmetic product containing an ingredient safety tested using animals for the purposes of the Directive will be allowed for sale in Europe, irrespective of the availability of alternative, non-animal tests.
The development of alternative methods is a tremendous scientific challenge. Colipa and its members are committed to making all efforts in order to achieve the best results on time and to ensure consumer safety without the need to use animal tests.
Currently the cosmetics industry is working on four priority areas: eye irritation, genotoxicity/ mutagenicity, skin sensitisation and systemic toxicity. Colipa has also established a special Project Team on safety assessment approaches using alternative methods.